UNION CITY — Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made his first official visit to Union City on Wednesday touting a health care reform package that seems certain to face well-heeled opposition.

Flanked by local business and labor leaders, as well as Fremont City Councilman Steve Cho and San Jose Mayor Chuck Reed, Schwarzenegger claimed bipartisan support for the $14 billion health care system overall that would extend coverage to about 70 percent of the state’s 5.1 million uninsured.

“We want everyone to have the opportunity to be insured,” Schwarzenegger said on the factory floor of light manufacturer Finelite — the latest stop in his barnstorming campaign to boost support for the plan.

Earlier this week, the state Assembly approved the framework of a package funded by tobacco tax increases, a payroll tax on employers, hospital fees and insurance premiums.

However, the plan, which proponents hope to take before voters in November, still faces major hurdles.

Some unions don’t think it goes far enough in providing coverage, and business groups, especially the tobacco, health care and pharmaceutical industries, are likely to oppose new taxes and regulations.

Meanwhile, state Senate President Pro Tem Don Perata, D-Oakland, is holding firm against having the Senate take up the bill until it reconvenes in January — even though proponents warn that the later the bill passes, the less time they have to get enough signatures to qualify it for the November ballot.

Perata, who co-sponsored the reform bill, has criticized the tobacco tax and asked for the nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office to study the reform’s effect on the state’s $14 billion budget deficit.

“We need to make sure our general fund is protected when it comes to this plan,” Perata spokeswoman Alicia Trost said Thursday.

Perata, she added, didn’t think the delay would hinder the ballot drive.

Schwarzenegger praised the senator Tuesday, and said they were “in sync” on health reform. “I know he will do the right thing and put it up for a vote,” the governor said.

Dubbed the Health Care Security and Cost Reduction Act, the reform package would require nearly all Californians to acquire health insurance, force employers to spend toward their employees’ health care or contribute to a state-run insurance pool, and compel insurance companies to provide coverage to all applicants, even those with pre-existing conditions.

By expanding coverage and spreading out the costs, proponents say the plan will control rising medical costs, reduce unnecessary emergency room visits and improve preventive care.

Low-income residents could qualify for state-subsidized coverage and middle-income residents could qualify for tax credits if the cost of buying insurance exceeds 5.5 percent of their income.

The payroll tax will range from 1 percent to 6.5 percent, with smaller companies paying the lower rate. Taxes on cigarettes could jump by as much as $2 per pack.

Although the governor trotted out labor and business supporters, the plan also has detractors on both sides of the political divide.

The California Nurses Association has said it still supports a single-payer style health care system that would do away with private insurers.

And Republican legislators, who voted against the bill in the Assembly, have questioned potential government intrusion into private industry and the efficacy of the tobacco tax, whose revenues are expected to dwindle as smoking rates decrease.

Cho, Fremont’s lone Republican council member, said he wasn’t certain he could support the plan.

“It comes down to how it gets paid for,” he said. “Everyone has to chip in.”

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